Banbridge rower Philip Doyle secures Olympic Games bronze alongside Daire Lynch
Banbridge rower Philip Doyle has secured double sculls Olympic Games bronze alongside partner Daire Lynch in Paris.
Doyle, who also won bronze at the World Championships last year with Lynch and collected silver in Austria four years prior, is a former student at Banbridge Academy and Queen’s University, where he took up rowing and won the British University Championships as a novice in 2014.
The Team Ireland duo won Tuesday’s semi-final in a time of 6:13.14 to finish ahead of New Zealand, United States of America, Germany, defending Olympic champions France and Norway, and have now secured bronze on the biggest stage after finishing third behind eventual winners Romania and pre-tournament favourites the Netherlands in a time of 6:15:17.
Speaking to the News Letter ahead of travelling to Paris, Doyle spoke about his medal ambitions, saying: "Myself and Darragh have had five hit-outs on the international stage and four medals from those five, with one a fourth. My aim is to be in that A final with six boats going for three medals.
"If we can get to that race then it's anyone's race that day but I'd like to back us that if we did get there that would mean we're in a good mental and physical place to perform. A medal isn't off the table but we have to get to that race first."
The 31-year-old, who was competing in his second Olympic Games following involvement at Tokyo, also stressed the importance of keeping full focus on the task at hand – something which has now paid dividends.
"We're staying in a hotel this time...the Olympic Village was a big distraction in Tokyo,” he added. "It's about minimising interactions you wouldn't normally have...quieten that outside noise, keep the sleep schedule on time and try to maximise the recovery between races as much as possible.
"Having been through the process before it's interesting how relaxed I've been feeling about it all. It's about trying to internalise the focus...right to the end it'll just be us and then we're creating that bubble within ourselves.
"You fiercely defend your own small bubble then you allow the others to interact but you have to just be ruthless. We talk about mental clarity to be able to adapt and change during the race...the boat that's able to adapt to weakness throughout the race is the one that's going to come out on top. That's all come through experience."